Economic Growth

The economy is primarily analyzed using the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employment levels. The GDP is a measure of all the goods and services produced in an economy. Economic growth is when the current and future periods of time are experiencing an expansion in GDP. As businesses increase their sales and are more confident about future activity, they hire more people. The new hires are more confident about their future and spend a portion of their income on business and the cycle continues. The stock market usually leads an economic recovery, because stock investors look to the future. If investors foresee an economic recovery 12 months from now, they will start to accumulate shares in companies that will benefit.

The U.S. Economic Outlook for 2015 will be significantly different depending on your vantage point. If you’re wealthy, 2015 will probably be another year of celebratory wealth creation. If, on the other hand, you’re not, 2015 will feel an awful…

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, for the first time in 35 years, more businesses in the U.S. economy are dying each year than being established. In 2013, 400,000 businesses started in the U.S. and 470,000 closed down. (Source: “American…

IMF Lowers Economic Outlook for 2015 In what appears to be standard routine these days, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) slashed its economic outlook for 2015. This would mark the fourth consecutive downward revision from the IMF, suggesting that China’s…

Despite what the politicians tell us about economic growth in the U.S economy, Americans are earning significantly less today than they did before the 2008 financial crisis. The U.S. Census Bureau just reported that in 2014, real median household income…

A fundamental problem that has plagued the U.S. economy in recent years is the fact that public companies are spending and borrowing for stock buybacks and are not investing in their businesses. In fact, by preferring to spend their money…

A new report shows poor households cannot earn enough to live in even the least expensive metropolitan American cities. This is a signal that the country’s slow-motion economic collapse is hitting low-income workers the hardest. Commentators continue to cheer on…

I have written over and over again on how distorted the U.S. business sales and inventory figures are. Manufacturers are stockpiling products. Retailers are experiencing a decline in sales. Consumer spending is getting softer. But it’s more than just retail…

In a country where the annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate could be eight percent, its stock market should be a good place to invest, right? Well, according to the portfolio strategy research team at The Goldman Sachs Group,…

What used to be a leading indicator, the stock market has now become a lagging indicator. For months (in these pages), I have written about how sick the U.S. economy has become. Stock market investors are waking up to the…

In the month of July, the Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index declined nine percent from May. The index stood at 99.9 in June and plunged to 90.9 in July—the lowest level since September of 2014! A sub-index of this confidence…

According to a Gallup survey, 51% of Americans say that they are in the middle or upper-middle class. Between 2000 and 2008, an average of 61% of Americans identified themselves to be in middle and upper-middle class. (Source: Gallup, April…

According to a study by Economic Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank, between 2009 and 2014, the salaries of CEOs at the largest U.S. companies increased by 54.3%. (Source: Economic Policy Institute, June 22,2015.) But the average American hasn’t done…

Traders received another piece of disappointing economic data, suggesting the U.S. economic outlook isn’t as rosy as many economists believe. On Tuesday, June 30th, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) reported Midwest manufacturing activity declined last month. In May, the…

Since the credit crisis of 2008, the policies of the Federal Reserve have spurred immense financial inequality in the U.S. Those individuals (a very small minority) who were able to take advantage of the monetary policies of the Fed have…

If you think the U.S. economy is improving, this story says that, truth be told, it’s the complete opposite for the economy, as recent data suggest there is no growth. U.S. Economy’s Jobs Market Tormented In March of this year,…

Despite being the global reserve currency, the U.S. dollar has been a second-rate currency, trading in the doldrums. At least that was until last July when it began to show signs of life. Since then, the U.S. dollar index has…

There are issues brewing in the stock market with interest rates fears and the strengthening greenback that could drive the S&P 500 lower by five percent or more. When Will the Fed Increase Interest Rates? First, we have the fears…

Look at any newspaper or watch any financial news channel and you will hear someone saying the U.S. economy is growing. To prove their point, they will refer to gross domestic product (GDP) figures and unemployment data. Yes, the GDP…

The chart below shows us that between April and August of this year, home prices in the U.S. declined. The S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index is only released 60 days after each month’s end, so while data for September and…

According to research by UC Berkeley, in 2012, the top one percent of income earners in the U.S. earned 22.5% of all the income. The bottom 90%, on the other hand, earned less than 50% of all the income. (Source:…